Bourses continue firm trade in late afternoon session

Indian equity markets continued their firm trade in late afternoon session even after India’s WPI inflation accelerated. Traders took note of private report that India's trade deficit widened to $23.78 billion in May as against $19.1 billion in April. The country's merchandise exports rose by 9 per cent to $38.13 billion in May from a year earlier, helped by an increase in shipments of engineering goods, commercial vehicles and smartphones. On the global front, Asian markets were trading mixed after Beijing slammed EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles as protectionist behavior and indicated it would take countermeasures in an escalating trade dispute. Signs of falling inflation in the United States helped to limit regional losses to some extent. European markets were trading lower amid uncertainty over China's response to EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles. The shift of the EU Parliament to the right also raised questions about the future of enlargement, defense and the economy.

The BSE Sensex is currently trading at 76930.95, up by 120.05 points or 0.16% after trading in a range of 76549.05 and 77001.70. There were 15 stocks advancing against 15 stocks declining on the index.

The broader indices were trading in green; the BSE Mid cap index was up by 1.06%, while Small cap index up by 1.00%.

The top gaining sectoral indices on the BSE were Industrials up by 1.64%, Capital Goods up by 1.56%, Auto up by 1.37%, Telecom up by 1.17% and Consumer discretionary was up by 1.06%, while IT down by 0.65%, TECK down by 0.43% and Utilities was down by 0.02% were the few losing indices on BSE.

The top gainers on the Sensex were Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.19%, Tata Motors up by 0.94%, Titan Company up by 0.83%, Reliance Industries up by 0.76% and HDFC Bank up by 0.75%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.22%, Tech Mahindra down by 1.09%, Wipro down by 0.91%, Larsen & Toubro down by 0.74% and Indusind Bank down by 0.50% were the top losers.

Meanwhile, inflation based on wholesale price index (WPI) accelerated in the month of May 2024 to 2.61% from 1.26% in April 2024, due to increase in prices of food articles, minerals, basic metals, computer, electronic & optical products and electrical equipments.

The Component wise, primary articles index, having weight of 22.62%, increased 0.54% to 187.7 (provisional) in May 2024 from 186.7 (provisional) for the month of April 2024, on the back of rise in prices of food articles and minerals. However, prices of non-food articles and crude petroleum & natural gas declined in May 2024 as compared to April 2024.

Fuel & Power index, having weight of 13.15%, declined 2.71% to 150.6 (provisional) in May 2024 from 154.8 (provisional) for the month of April, 2024, as prices of electricity declined in May. But, prices of mineral oils and coal remained unchanged in May 2024 as compared to April 2024. 

Besides, Manufactured Products constituting the major portion of the index with weight of 64.23%, increased by 0.64% to 141.7 (provisional) in May 2024 from 140.8 (provisional) for the month of April 2024. Meanwhile, for the month of March, 2024 the final Wholesale Price Index and inflation rate for 'All Commodities' (Base: 2011- 12=100) stood at 151.4 and 0.26% respectively.

The CNX Nifty is currently trading at 23448.20, up by 49.30 points or 0.21% after trading in a range of 23334.25 and 23469.45. There were 30 stocks advancing against 20 stocks declining on the index.

The top gainers on Nifty were Eicher Motors up by 2.25%, Mahindra & Mahindra up by 2.21%, Shriram Finance up by 1.73%, Adani Ports up by 1.69% and BPCL up by 1.17%. On the flip side, TCS down by 1.24%, Tech Mahindra down by 0.98%, Wipro down by 0.94%, Indusind Bank down by 0.60% and Larsen & Toubro down by 0.60% were the top losers.

Asian markets were trading mixed; Taiwan Weighted added 192.68 points or 0.86% to 22,504.72, Nikkei 225 surged 94.09 points or 0.24% to 38,814.56, Shanghai Composite strengthened 3.71 points or 0.12% to 3,032.63 and KOSPI was up by 3.53 points or 0.13% to 2,758.42. On the flip side, Straits Times fell 23.83 points or 0.72% to 3,300.70, Jakarta Composite plunged 104.81 points or 1.53% to 6,726.75 and Hang Seng was down by 170.85 points or 0.95% to 17,941.78.

European markets were trading lower; UK’s FTSE 100 decreased 17.39 points or 0.21% to 8,146.28, France’s CAC fell 117.6 points or 1.53% to 7,590.42 and Germany’s DAX was down by 106.67 points or 0.58% to 18,159.01.